Model Comparison

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is 1.3x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Llama 3.2 90B Instruct vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking — which is better?

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct (by Meta) and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is roughly 1.3x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (128,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Llama 3.2 90B Instruct if…

  • cost matters — it's about 1.3x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 128,000 token context window

Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Llama 3.2 90B Instruct ($0.35/1M tokens) is 2.3x more expensive than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking ($0.15/1M tokens).

For output processing, Llama 3.2 90B Instruct ($0.40/1M tokens) is 3.8x cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking ($1.50/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is more expensive than Llama 3.2 90B Instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meta
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
Input tokens$0.35
Output tokens$0.40
Best providerDeepinfra
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Input tokens$0.15
Output tokens$1.50
Best providerNovita
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

10.0B diff

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct has 10.0B more parameters than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking, making it 12.5% larger.

Meta
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
90.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
80.0Bparameters
90.0B
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
80.0B
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct accepts 128,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking's 65,536 tokens. Llama 3.2 90B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is limited to 65,536 tokens.

Meta
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Input65,536 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking does not.

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is licensed under Llama 3.2, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking uses Apache 2.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct

Llama 3.2

Open weights

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct was released on 2024-09-25, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking was released on 2025-09-10.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is 12 months newer than Llama 3.2 90B Instruct.

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct

Sep 25, 2024

1.8 years ago

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Sep 10, 2025

9 months ago

11mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Provider Availability

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Bedrock, Fireworks, Together, Hyperbolic. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is available from Novita.

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.35/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.40/1M
bedrock logo
AWS Bedrock
Input Price:Input: $0.72/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.72/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.89/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.89/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $1.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M
hyperbolic logo
Hyperbolic
Input Price:Input: $2.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $2.00/1M

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.15/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Meta
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive output tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Less expensive input tokens
Higher GPQA score (77.2% vs 46.7%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Llama 3.2 90B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
✓ Preferred
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meta
Llama 3.2 90B Instruct
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

FAQ

Common questions about Llama 3.2 90B Instruct vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking.

Which is better, Llama 3.2 90B Instruct or Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is made by Meta and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Llama 3.2 90B Instruct compare to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking in benchmarks?

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct scores AI2D: 92.3%, DocVQA: 90.1%, MGSM: 86.9%, MMLU: 86.0%, ChartQA: 85.5%. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking scores MMLU-Redux: 92.5%, IFEval: 88.9%, AIME 2025: 87.8%, WritingBench: 84.6%, MMLU-Pro: 82.7%.

Is Llama 3.2 90B Instruct cheaper than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is 2.3x cheaper for input tokens. Llama 3.2 90B Instruct costs $0.35/M input and $0.40/M output via deepinfra. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking costs $0.15/M input and $1.50/M output via novita.

What are the context window sizes for Llama 3.2 90B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct supports 128K tokens and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking supports 66K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Llama 3.2 90B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 66K), input pricing ($0.35 vs $0.15/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Llama 3.2 vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Llama 3.2 90B Instruct and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

Llama 3.2 90B Instruct is developed by Meta and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

Related comparisons